LAW Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar (left) and Leader of Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas speak during Tuesday’s session.—Dawn
• Opposition senators slam ‘denial of Imran’s rights’; Tarar tells opposition to approach court for relief concerning PTI founder’s medical care, jail meetings
• Ministers detail measures to curb extremism; seek parliamentary debate on National Action Plan-II
ISLAMABAD: The opposition in the Senate was up in arms on Tuesday over what it termed the “denial of human rights” to former prime minister Imran Khan.
However, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told members that Mr Khan had been taken to Pims for a procedure on his own request, and assured the House that he had no health issues following treatment.
He said the federal government fully respected human rights and it had never issued any directive to deny medical treatment to any prisoner.
The law minister also assured the Senate that if any further medical need arose, all facilities would be provided as per law.
However, he hastened to add that any further relief concerning medical care, meetings or prison conditions must be sought through the high court, which was the competent appellate forum.
Earlier, Leader of Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas complained that Mr Khan’s imprisonment was “cruel and illegal”, and asked why was he deprived of his rights and why his family was not informed about his illness.
“A crime has been committed against him, as it is his fundamental right that he did not get,” Senator Abbas said.
He said there was concern among people all over the country over Mr Khan’s health, and described the ban on meetings with the PTI founder as the worst form of political victimisation and violation of human rights.
He expressed the fear that Mr Khan might lose his eyesight and emphasised that he should be checked by a doctor of his choice, and permitted to meet his family. The opposition leader also suggested that senators should visit him in jail.
Speaking on the occasion, PTI parliamentary leader Barrister Syed Ali Zafar said the fact that PTI founder underwent treatment in secret, and this was later revealed by the government, was a serious issue.
“We appealed that Mr Khan should be allowed to meet his personal physicians for a complete investigation. If it was a small procedure, the nation would be satisfied,” he said, adding that this meeting was not allowed.
Following this, Mr Khan’s doctors in a video message called the issue very serious in nature, showing concerns that he could face permanent damage to his eyesight, he added.
They recommended names of two experts who should be given access to Mr Khan for complete investigation, he said.
He said the doctors were not satisfied with the Pims report, and asked that two experts should be given access to Mr Khan immediately.
He also recalled that when PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was diagnosed with low platelets, then-PM Imran Khan had said that he should get proper treatment and allowed doctors, even his personal physician, to examine him in jail.
“I am not talking about politics right now,” he said, urging the chair to direct Pims to provide them with Mr Khan’s medical report.
Unity in face of extremism
During Tuesday’s proceedings, two key ministers noted that complete national unity was imperative to effectively counter extremism.
During Question Hour, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar described the recent meeting between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Sohail Afridi and PM Shehbaz Sharif as a positive development that would help strengthen coordination.
Mr Tarar said that cooperation between the federal government and the province was vital for improving the law & order situation.
He said this cooperation would convey a message of unity and help eliminate terrorism.
He informed the House that a Counter Violent Extremism Cell has been established in the information ministry and a third-party audit system has been put in place to assess the outreach and dissemination of the narrative generated by the cell.
Mr Tarar said that a fully functional digital communication department is working under the cell to counter extremist narratives through digital media.
He said the Paigham-i-Aman Committee, comprising scholars from all schools of thought, minority representatives and senior government officials, was actively working to promote peace and counter extremism in the country.
He said the committee was actively touring the country to promote a counter-narrative against extremism, violence, and terrorism. Giving the composition of the committee, he said the committee comprised several religious scholars and representatives of minority communities.
Spearately, Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry also stressed the importance of national unity.
Speaking in the House, he noted that past success against terrorism had only been achieved when all political forces stood united behind the security forces, emphasising that similar unity was required once again to defeat extremism and terrorism.
Mr Chaudhry underlined the need for a full parliamentary debate on the 14-point National Action Plan-II (NAP-II), noting that the original NAP had been formulated after the Army Public School tragedy during the PML-N government and later revised during the PTI government with the consensus of all provinces.
He said the government was ready to present a detailed briefing on the implementation of all NAP-II points, including provincial and federal performance, if the House decided to allocate time for an in-depth discussion.
About the government’s broader strategy to counter extremism, he said that both kinetic and non-kinetic measures were being pursued simultaneously.
Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2026
